For sixth year, Vermont ranked healthiest state

Dec. 12, 2012

Written by

Free Press Staff Report

Vermont is the healthiest state in the union for a sixth consecutive year, according to a national survey conducted by the United Health Foundation.

Hawaii ranks second, followed by New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Minnesota, where the United Health Foundation is based.

Louisiana and Mississippi tied as the least healthy states and have, the survey states, ranked at or near the bottom of the list since 1990.

According to the survey, the Green Mountain State boasts a high rate of high school graduation, a low rate of violent crime, few incidents of infectious disease, few underweight newborns, few uninsured people, high per capita public health funding and readily available primary care physicians.

But Vermonters drink too much, the survey adds, with 18.5 percent of the adult population participating in binge drinking.

Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story had the incorrect number of years Vermont has ranked No. 1.